Total Eclipse of the Heart
by Katherinne McKay
Summary: The journey to the Cosmos is a long and winding path. A look at the beginning of Usagi's story, and how she became Cosmos.


ANs: This story was originally started way back in 2002, when I was still in high school. I fell away from Sailor Moon shortly after graduation and lost track of my story line. Flash forward to now, when we've passed the 20th anniversary of my gateway anime, and I find I really want to finish this story.

I am not going to delete the old. To do so would dishonor what has come before. Many of the plot elements will stay the same, but the story itself has evolved.

Enjoy!

~Katherinne

Standard Disclaimer:

I don't own Sailor Moon. The show/manga belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, Bandai, and whoever else owns the rights. The story is mine; I'm just borrowing the characters..

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><p><strong>Prologue : Fireflies<strong> **and Angels**

The moon shown down on the pair as they made their way through the park. It was getting late and she knew she was needed at home. Her daughter, currently holding her hand in a lip grasp, was getting ready to drop where she was.

So was the life of Ikuko Tsukino.

At the crosswalk, the duo waited for the light to change. She had the groceries for the next few days in a bag, and was mentally going over her list for any forgotten items. There was a slight tug to her skirt, and she looked down to see her daughter pointing across the road.

The light had changed, and it looked like no one was coming.

The duo made their way slowly across. Ikuko, lost in thought, never even heard the horrible screech, nor felt the impact as the car slammed into her side.

It would take three weeks for her to wake from her medically-induced coma. By the time she could speak again, she had learned that her little firefly had been killed and buried.

She felt she would never smile again.

Years pass. Kenji had taken a job at a local magazine, reporting while going to night school for photography. Ikuko, having never really forgiving herself for the accident, kept herself locked indoors, only venturing out when absolutely necessary.

That night, three years to the day her little firefly would have turned six, she dreamed.

_Ikuko sat at a table, sipping chamomile tea. Around her is bright mist, though she could make out vague shapes of roses to her left._

'_This is peaceful,' she thought to herself. 'This is the first bit of peace I've had since..'_

_She didn't allow herself to finish the thought. Even in dreams, she could never forgive herself._

_She placed the cup of tea down on the table, noticing it was made out of a polished marble. The mist around her had dimmed, the roses becoming more lifelike. Fireflies rose from the ground around her, flickered their lonely song while flying in spirals towards the heavens._

_She cradled her head in her hands and wept. She could never feel peace, after what had happened._

_Horus passed. She finally ran out of tears before noticing she was being held. Looking up, she saw the face of a sad angel._

_Ikuko jerked away, scrubbing furiously at her eyes. "I'm so sorry," she mumbled. "I don't know what came over me."_

"_It's alright," said a melodic voice. "It was healing tears."_

_Ikuko turned and looked at the angel. She was getting ready to voice a question, before her mind went blank._

"_It isn't fair when a parent should outlive their child. I should know." The angel took one of Ikuko's hands, before looking her in the eye. "I have been watching you, Ikuko."_

_Ikuko shook her head. "Why me? I'm not anything special.." _

"_Don't underestimate yourself. Your entire life, what has been your greatest wish?"_

_Ikuko was lost for a moment. "I don't understand."_

_The angel smiled. "You know what it is, even if you have forgotten." She stood, pulling Ikuko with her. "I'm afraid I'm about to ask a favor, one that I will never be able to fully return."_

_The two walked for a few minutes before the angel stopped. She waved her hand across the empty mist in front of them, parting them to show the destruction below. Ikuko gasped._

"_This is the future that lay before you. A long-forgotten war that became a stain across the universe will fall here in a short fifteen years, and there is no one who can keep the darkness at bay." The angel shook her head. "I tried, and all I had to show was a kingdom that fell, my family murdered, friends missing and my children.."_

_Ikuko tore her eyes away from the destruction of the city she had been raised in, to gently squeeze the angel's hand and offer her support._

"_I was always warned that the Night is always darkest before the Dawn, but that sometimes, the Sun and Moon need help to bring balance back to the darkness." She shook her head, before grasping both hands in hers. "This is your choice, will you help keep this world safe, or will you continue to waste away in your home?"_

_Ikuko didn't even think. "If it is within my power, I will keep this future from happening."_

_The angel smiled, leading the two to a small path. "All you will need to do is watch."_

_Ikuko felt the confusion coming, but pushed it back. "Watch?"_

_The mist fully fell away then, revealing the crumbling towers and columns of a kingdom long since decayed. Roses climbed the few standing pillars, each glowing with their own light. In the middle what was once a great atrium stood a cradle._

"_This is what I meant by you had to watch," the angel said, reaching out and gently laying a hand inside the cradle. "You have a choice, Tsukino Ikuko. You said you want to help, but you still have that chance to walk away. Either way, it wouldn't change my opinion of you."_

"_How can I help?"_

_The angel gestured to the cradle. Beneath a blanket, Ikuko could see another glowing light, this one glowing brighter than the roses around them. _

"_Just touch the sphere, and all will be well."_

_Ikuko did, then everything faded._

When Ikuko awoke, she couldn't remember many details about the dream. Later, when she told her husband what she could, she described a lonely angel with hair the color of moonlight, and eyes as clear as the sky.

"They were very serene," she would say when asked about it later.

Two months pass, and everyone receives a surprise. Seven months after, and they bring their second daughter into the world.

"Usagi," Ikuko named her, before falling asleep.

_end prologue_

Getting a feel for how this will be received. Have more planned.


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